


Don't Be Such a Bully

by Derenieh_Maeverin



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bullying, Explicit Language, Gen, Love Confessions, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29342238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derenieh_Maeverin/pseuds/Derenieh_Maeverin
Summary: Tsukishima Kei has been bullying you for as long as you've known him, and one day, he pushes you to your limit and isn't ready for the consequences for his actions. Will he redeem himself or are you done with him for good?This started out as a little drabble for my dear friend Corina, but it ended up around 2,000 words so I decided to post it!
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Don't Be Such a Bully

**Author's Note:**

> I do not condone violence or bullying in any way, and please don't stay in a relationship with someone who is mean to you. You deserve better, and I promise that better is out there <3

“Hey Tsukki, what's your problem? Why are you so mean to her?”

Tsukishima looked up with a pointed glare, knowing exactly who Hinata was talking about. He played ignorance though.

“What the fuck are you talking about? And don’t _Ever_ call me Tsukki again.” He tacked the subtle threat onto the end.

“Don’t play stupid, man. We all see it. You even rag on her when they aren’t around. It makes everybody uncomfortable, so cool it, okay?” The tangerine head started changing for the showers.

“What I do and say is none of your fucking business, so back off!” Tsukishima balled his hands into fists, coming up toe-to-toe with his comrade and hoping that was enough to make the other back off the subject.

“You know what? I think you like her. Why else would you talk about her constantly? She’s never gonna like you back if you bully her, so you might wanna try a different approach.”

“You’re never gonna walk again if you don’t shut the fuck up, so you might not wanna try your luck.” He knew there wasn’t enough poison in his tone, and the way Hinata just shrugged and walked away only made him more angry. Angry enough to throw his gear in the back and storm out of the locker room without showering or changing. He needed air. He needed to...think. 

Much to his personal torture, he ran into you on the way out to the parking lot. You stumbled out an apology as he glared down at you intensely.

“It’s fine, dumb Pipsqueak just watch where you’re going.” He grumbled and shuffled charged past you, shoving his hands in his pockets to feel at the note he’d written four months ago meant to confess his undying crush on you. Hinata’s words echoed in his head as he tried to leave, but fuck, that orange-haired freak was right. Tsukishima made the rash decision to turn around and call out after you.

“Hey!” He managed to catch you before you’d exited the gymnasium, and he watched you jump at the sound of his voice and turn around timidly. “I’m...sorry...for bumping into you, too.” He stormed outside right after that, feeling his heart try to beat out of his chest, wondering if he’d ever be worthy of you.

Over the next several weeks, Tsukishima made incremental progress in being nicer to you. Two insults instead of three. Not raising his voice so loudly at you. Talking less about you to his friends. He felt good about his progress, and thought maybe you were even starting to respond in ways other than fear or disgust. 

He felt good until he walked into the gymnasium to see you leaned up against a wall talking and laughing with Yamaguchi. Immediately, Tsukishima’s blood began to boil. Yams was the one person who knew for sure how he felt about you, and now he was flirting with you in plain sight?? Not once was he ever able to make you laugh or smile like that. At all actually. And that pissed him off further.

“Hey!” He shouted, dropping his bag and storming over to the two of you. You and Yams both turned to him with shocked expressions before you froze. You knew Tsukishima hated you, but he’d never looked so angry. “Fuck off before I do something I regret, Yamaguchi.” 

Yamaguchi threw you an apologetic look before scurrying off, and seeing that man so terrified snapped you out of your stupor enough to frown and cross your arms at the blonde.

“What the fuck do you think you were doing with him? You think you’re gonna get into something with Yamaguchi? Well, you’re hugely fucking mistaken.” He barked at you, but you snapped back.

“What are you talking about? He was just asking how I was doing since you’re such a bully.” 

“You think anyone actually gives a shit about how you feel? Get a clue.” He spit back.

“You sure seem to, since you stormed over here and interrupted a perfectly normal conversation. Maybe you’re the one who needs to get a clue! You clearly have some kind of problem with me even though I’ve always been nothing but nice!” Your eyes began to well up even through the shouting because you weren’t used to sustaining his attacks for this long.

“I don’t have a problem with you, so don’t put words in my mouth, fuckin’ Pipsqueak.”

“Oh really? So what exactly do you call yelling at me and knocking stuff out of my hands and making fun of every single thing about me and talking about me behind my back to your friends? Because that all sure sounds like a problem!” You’d never be able to quantify how much he’d hurt you since you’d know each other. You’d never understand why either. You almost didn’t want to anymore.

“I did all that because I like you and I can’t get you off of my fucking mind!” He shouted so loud that his voice echoed off the walls and ceiling of the practice court until it faded and only silence remained. Neither of you really noticed, but the whole team had arrived and was watching quietly from afar.

“...are you serious?...” You stared up into his eyes as shock washed over you. Was he joking? How the hell was anything he’d done supposed to be about love or admiration or attraction. In that moment, you decided it didn’t matter. You wiped the tears brimming in your eyes and glared up at him, knowing he’d see the hurt and anger and pain swimming in them.

“Fuck you, Kei…” You pushed away from him and stormed out of the gym leaving him and the rest of his team stunned.

  
  


Somehow, his confession only made you feel worse. How could someone like you and spew such vitriol every time your paths crossed? It didn’t make sense. It felt more like another cruel joke coming from him. And yet, every day after that outburst, you would find something he’d left for you. 

At first, it was a series of apologies. What started as a sticky note left on your bag with a simple ‘I’m sorry’ turned into full on letters of remorse. His entire team even took turns apologizing on Kei’s behalf. It was confusing and exhausting, but as if that wasn’t enough, the offerings started to turn more romantic. Flowers, sweets, playlists, a new pair of headphones. At one point, he left you all of his very detailed notes for a class you were currently in. How did he even know you were struggling unless his friends were actively trying to help him make up with you…?

At first, you trashed his notes. But when the letters started to come, something in you felt too bad to throw them away. You didn’t read any of them, but they started to pile up on your dresser at home, and every night, you would stare at the pile growing pile of gifts and your resolve would weaken a little bit more. 

In the end, it ended up being Yamaguchi who convinced you to at least look at all the offerings.

“He freaked out like that because he thought I was flirting with you. I think it was a fear response. He...really cares about you despite his previous behavior, and you can see he’s trying to turn things around. Just...just read what he has to say. Give him a chance. Then you can make a decision in good conscience ya know?” His big innocent eyes, those of a great friend who also really cared about you, were enough to convince you.

It took hours that night. Hours of you just staring at the pile, staring at the gifts, the mixtapes, the flowers you’d kept alive despite your anger and sadness. But finally, well after the sun had set, you got up, grabbed everything, and got comfortable on your bed.

You started with a few of the smaller notes, the vague apologies that got a little more detailed and heartfelt each time until you were reading letters about him. His background and family, his interest in volleyball, his other hobbies, his likes and dislikes, and how he wondered all of those things about you. You were compelled to listen to the music he’d sent and unwrapped the headphones, plugging them into the radio on your nightstand and shoving the old cassette tape into the slot. As you listened, you continued reading the letters and confessions of love until the sun had come up the next day and your eyes were stinging with exhaustion. The only reason you noticed is because your alarm went off signalling that the first class of your day started in an hour. You groaned and climbed out of bed to rush and get ready, not even realizing you’d already made the decision to confront the man on your mind.

After class, you had a few hours break before your afternoon class, so you crossed through the gym as usual, heading for your car, and secretly hoping to run into Kei. Lucky for you, he opened the door to the parking lot at the same moment you were trying to leave, bumping into you like the day he confessed. But this time, he was nothing but surprised to see you. It looked like he wanted to say something, anything other than the feeble ‘sorry’ he mumbled before moving past you, so you stopped him.

“Tsukishima, wait.”

And he turned around faster than you could blink, eyes glimmering with unbridled hope because this was the first time you’d look in his direction in months.

“Let’s...we should talk. Do you have time?” You knew he had a class, but he pretended not to and headed out to your car with you. You both sat in silence for the longest time, both of you staring out the front window hyper-focused on a license plate or a leaf sticking to the hood of another vehicle. Finally, you spoke up.

“I read and listened to everything you sent me…” You muttered and watched him whip around towards you in shock. The sudden movement made you flinch even though he’d never raised a hand to you.

“Really? What did you think? Are you accepting my apology?”

“I don’t know. Every interaction we’ve ever had has been marred with anger and vitriol. There’s not a lot of positive to go on.” Finally, you turned to look up at him, the hesitancy in your eyes coming to meet the eager hope in the cool, soft brown of his. “I just...need you to give me a reason to...to move past this. I need to know that you’ll never treat me badly again.”

For a while, Tsukishima was quiet, trying to find something that would convince you, knowing this was his only chance.

“Can you trust me for just a minute? I know that’s a lot to ask, but this is the only thing I can think of.” He reached across the gearshift to very tentatively touch your forearm to which you forced yourself to relax. You were the one who asked him to talk right? You came here to give him that one final chance. Slowly, you nodded, keeping your eyes trained on him as your brain failed to register him getting closer to you. 

When your lips touched, it felt like every single fear or worry or anxiety-inducing thought left your brain in a rush, leaving nothing behind but comfort and trust. His lips were a little dry, but soft and timid against yours as if one wrong move would break the spell the two of you were under. Your own urge to grab his face and deepen the kiss was overwhelming in a way you’d definitely have to evaluate later, but Tsukishima pulled away before things could advance. Immediately, he began to speak, passion and conviction swirling around in his toasted irises

“I will _never_ hurt you again. Ever. And I’ll spend every day that I have trying to make up for how I treated you before this moment. So please...please give me a chance. Just one more chance.”

“Okay...but if you ever hurt me again, I’m leaving. No hesitation, and I’ll never speak to you again.” You wondered already if you were making a bad decision, if this man was even worth the chance, how long it would be until he screwed up. But something in you really believed in him. Something in you really hoped he was telling the truth. 

Only time would tell, but you vowed to enjoy each good day while they lasted.


End file.
